When I finished my degree at Oxford, I went and acted for a bit. And I was appalling. And with each part, I thought, 'Well, that's embarrassing. I'd better do one more to show people I'm not that bad.' And, in fact, instead of a taking a year, that's gone on for 35 years.

I've also just finished filming the role of Robert Brown in 'Just William ' which is due to transmit on BBC One at Christmas.

Begin - to begin is half the work let half still remain again begin this and thou wilt have finished.

I had nearly finished school because I was making effort not that bad on that. But there was a law in Germany after the war. You could not make your final examination before 18 so lots of people who were late because of the way had to do it first.

I don't like to leave anything unfinished on my desk before I travel.

There will come a time when you believe everything is finished. Yet that will be the beginning.

There is no room for second place. There is only one place in my game and that is first place. I have finished second twice in my time at Green Bay and I never want to finish second again.

What we become depends on what we read after all of the professors have finished with us. The greatest university of all is a collection of books.

If you come into success too soon you'll burn out and be finished before you know it. If you let the maturation process happen naturally you'll be happier with yourself in the end.

You do the work and you want people to see it but um while I'm doing the work the result doesn't matter at all to me. Ultimately I don't I don't care whether the film is - you know - some big giant box-office bonanza and I don't care if its a complete flop. To me when a film gets made and it's actually finished it's a success. They're all a success in their own way.

It scares you: all the noise the rattling the shaking. But the look on everybody's face when you're finished and packing it's the best smile in the world and there's nobody hurt and the well's under control.

If I could be more vague I'd write more about people in my life but I hate hurting feelings or making people feel uncomfortable. I've done that before. Unless they're sad songs. Those get finished fast but the mean ones often end up at the back of the bottom drawer and it's probably for the best.

I never get scared making these kinds of movies because it's all make-believe but I did cry when I saw the finished version of Man On Fire because it is so sad.

I respect newspapers but the reality is that magazine 'photojournalism' is finished. They want illustrations Photoshopped pictures of movie stars.

I've just finished my next collection Possible Side Effects and I'm now working on a collection of holiday stories as well as a memoir about my relationship with my father.

Sometimes you're not even sure which of your stories were failures. There are things I've written that I thought were complete catastrophes when I finished with them that have gone on to generate some of my most positive feedback.

I don't want to spend the rest of my life in politics. When I'm finished with my term as governor I'm going back to the life that's waiting for me in the private sector.

We recognise in the finished art which is the result of these conditions the best words in the best order - poetry and to put this essential poetry into different classes is impossible.

But in the finished art of the song the use of words has no connection with the use of words in poetry.

Poetry seems to sink into us the way prose doesn't. I can still quote verses I learned when I was very young but I have trouble remembering one line of a novel I just finished reading.

A poem is never finished only abandoned.

A show that no one thought had a chance has just finished its fifth year: Charmed. I think it's tougher for the younger networks so I think they have a little more patience for the sake of the show. But who knows?

I was half asleep lying there writing this lyric in my head at about 3:30 in the morning. I woke Steve up with this idea and then we went into the living room where there was a little upright piano and finished the song. I wonder where that piano is now?

I've just finished my 20th book this past year and I'm working on my 21st book about the Middle East right now that I'll finish this year. And I get up early in the morning and when I get tired of the computer and tired of doing research I walk 20 steps out to my woodshop and I either build furniture or paint paintings. I'm an artist too.